Sweat poured over Parker's brow into his eyes. He was concentrating so hard to increase the size of the little candle flame he'd created. It dissipated in his palm and he yelled in frustration.

"Why can't I do this?" he snapped. Alexis looked at him not sure what to say to try and improve his mood. It had significantly worsened over the past couple of days.

Caleb was at a loss for words as well. He no longer struggled with the simple Imperial techniques like he did a year ago. He fully understood the frustration that Parker was feeling, but still didn't know how to help him. "Just give it some time Parker, you'll get there."

"I'm just trying to create a tiny flame! I should be able to do that!" Parker was beyond irritated at this point.

"It takes a while Parker," Alexis pleaded. "Remember how long it took Caleb to get a hang of the simplest techniques?"

"But he didn't know anything about his Imperials when he started. I've got a full-ish year under my belt! And I was fantastic at it!"

Alexis gave up trying to make him feel better. Anything she did he just snapped at her so she turned and left the room. As she passed through the door, she almost ran into Master Sora. "Oh, excuse me Master Sora, I'm just on my way back to the common room."

"That's alright dear, have a good evening." He kept making his way to the clearing in the middle of the room where Parker laid like a starfish on the grass. "Everything okay lad?"

Parker sighed loudly before responding. "I suck at this. Just send me home."

"Breathe lad. Everything will be all right. You've only been at this for a couple of weeks."

"But Caleb was able to do this after a couple of weeks!"

"Caleb's situation was different than that of yours."

"How? I don't see any differences besides he did it and I suck at it."

Master Sora got a slight idea as to why Alexis left to go to the common room. "Listen carefully. Caleb was born an Omni whereas you had it thrust upon you. Your situations are entirely different. Not only did he have to start at ground zero for all of the Imperials, but he didn't have a year’s worth of his Imperial under his belt."

"That doesn't make me feel any better. That just means it's worse that I can't do it."

Master Sora motioned for Parker to sit up. "Parker that does not mean you should already be able to do it. Your brain has been wired to only think about your Imperial for the past year. Caleb had no precursors as to what he was supposed to be doing. Fire and Air Imperials take completely different mentalities in order to succeed."

This helped lift Parker's spirits a little bit. Maybe because he was so good at his Imperial, trying to learn the other Imperials was going to be tougher.

Master Sora left the room after a few minutes of watching Parker struggle with his Fire Imperial. Caleb soon followed suit and Parker was left with only his thoughts.

He sprawled out in the grass and closed his eyes. Memories of the events from last year flashed past his eyelids. Thinking about what Lara had done to everyone and what she had planned made his blood boil. The more he thought about it, the hotter he got.

After several minutes of letting himself stew over the terrible memories he opened his eyes. It wasn't just his blood that had been boiling and getting hot. Where his hands had been lying in the grass there were scorch marks. He hadn't noticed himself create a flame with his eyes closed.

This gave him an idea of something he could try. He held his hand out in front of him and focused his thoughts on Lara. As the typical candle flame appeared in his palm, he focused his thoughts more specifically on how Lara had attacked his friends. The flame burst into a fireball making his eyes go wide.

Alexis appeared out of nowhere next to him. He yelled and threw his hand toward her, unaware of whom it was. The fireball struck the top of her shoulder. She dropped to her knees, letting out a scream.

"Alexis! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to I promise!" He rushed forward to hug her but stopped. Her shirt had been seared away over her left shoulder. As he looked at the damage he had done, he noticed that he had not only burned part of her shirt away but had left burn wounds on her skin. He could see the burn travel from her shoulder to halfway up her neck.

-----

Parker held Alexis's hand as she lay in a Medical Ward bed. Regret was visible on Parker's face as he stared at her unconscious body. Master Sora appeared by his side. "Tell me what happened Parker."

There was a brief silence before he responded. "I was laying in the grass brooding about how much I suck. I started thinking about last year and everything that happened with Lara. My blood was boiling thinking about the way she attacked my friends. Then I opened my eyes and there were scorch marks in the grass. So I got the idea to think about that more specifically trying to increase my flame. Then Alexis appeared out of nowhere and scared me half to death. That's when I accidentally launched the fireball at her."

Master Sora just stared at him as he retold the events from earlier. He waited several moments before responding. "It's time we work one-on-one instead of in a group."

"Why?" Parker said with a hint of contempt in his voice.

"I understand your drive to want to improve your Imperials, I truly do. And you were on the right track with your thoughts, but without direct instruction on what to do and how to do it you will fail every time." Master Sora turned and walked out of the Medical Ward leaving Parker and Alexis alone.

Time dragged on as he sat by her side waiting for her to wake up. Madame Sasaki said she was simply unconscious from shock and that she would be all right in the end. Parker was worried that he had permanently injured her.

Madame Sasaki appeared out of nowhere like Alexis had earlier scaring Parker. She made her way around the Medical Ward as if she were a ghost. She checked the burn marks under the bandages on her shoulder and neck.

"Is she going to be okay? I feel like she should be awake by now."

"Just give her time, she'll come around. She went through a great shock and it is about four in the morning. I think you should just go back to your dormitory and get some rest." Madame Sasaki turned and tended to the one other patient in the room. Parker thought about going up to bed but decided he couldn't leave her side, not until she woke up.

The sun woke Parker out of his sleep. He had fallen asleep holding Alexis's hand and his head on the side of the bed. When he sat up, blinking several times trying to adjust to the blinding light coming through the window behind Alexis's bed.

When he could finally see, he noticed that two sparkling blue eyes were staring back at him. "Alexis!" A hushing sound came from somewhere in the room.

"Hi…"

"I'm so sorry. How can I make this up to you?"

"Don't… it was just an accident…"

Parker didn't feel reassured by her answers. She said each word as though she were hesitant to say it.

"I'm going to find a way to make it up to you whether you like it or not." She smiled when he said it but the smile quickly faded.

"You should go get ready for the day. Don't you have a lesson with Master Sora today?"

"How did you know about that?"

"He was in here while you were asleep. He filled me in on everything that happened." Parker looked at her trying to decide whether or not she was actually okay with everything or if she was mad at him for burning her.

"How's your shoulder feeling?"

She grabbed her shoulder softly and winced. Parker knew it must be hurting without her having to say anything. He couldn't imagine how much her burn must hurt. It made him think back to the burn he got on his hand at his house. That had only been a little burn on his hand. She had to deal with her whole shoulder and part of her neck being burnt. Several moments of silence past and Parker went on his way not sure what to say anymore.

He made his way into his dormitory to get everything he needed for the day and Caleb was sitting there staring out of the window. "Hey Caleb."

Without turning to make eye contact he said, "Hi." He then got up and walked out of the room without saying anything else.

Parker stared after him, shocked at the lack of conversation. He used to be so timid but then they became good friends and that went out of the window. Gathering his things, Parker walked back out of their room to the common room. When he got there, Hailee was waiting for him.

"Are you going to give me the cold shoulder too?"

"No," she said, although not sounding her usual optimistic self. "But I'm not overly thrilled with you right now either."

They made their way down the entrance and toward the dining hall. Few students roamed the corridors, but being break that wasn't very surprising.

As they approached the stairwell, Hailee almost hopped over the small wall and flew to the bottom as she usually did. As she placed her hand on the edge and climbed over to jump Parker grabbed her by her wrist. "Don't go that way…"

"Why not? That's how I always go."

"I can't fly right now…"

"Oh yeah… I forgot… sorry."

"It's okay. I would just like it if you walked with me instead."

Her eyes opened a little wider. "What if we both go down this way and I help you out?"

He pondered her suggestion for a moment before agreeing. "I suppose so… but I'm going to be of no use to you. Can you handle it all on your own?"

She nodded her head and said, "Of course!"

They both climbed over the ledge and looked down the center of the stairs. Parker gulped loudly and Hailee pulled him over. As they fell, Parker's heart felt like it was about to explode. He had no way of saving himself at this point. It was either Hailee saved both of them or this was how he would die.

She spun in place creating a swirl of wind ripping quickly around her. She willed the air to stretch around Parker. Their plummet decelerated into a controlled landing. Hailee took them nice and slow, trying to help Parker calm down. Nothing seemed to be helping though; he continued to panic the whole way down.

As they reached the second floor, the swirling wind died out. There was nothing holding them in the air any longer and they dropped very fast to the ground. They landed with a hard, jarring impact making their knees buckle.

"What happened Hailee? I thought you said you definitely had this." He said it a little harsher than he meant to, but having free fallen ten feet or so he was a little upset.

"I don't know… that's never happened to me before…"

They made their way into the dining hall and saw the room completely filled. Everyone at Lancastre but Caleb, Alexis and the other person in the Medical Ward had to have been there. There were two seats open at a round white table in the middle of the room.

Parker hadn't been paying attention to who was sitting at the table. It was Evelyn, Cassidy, Clay and Gwen. "Hey!" Cassidy yelled.

He shook his head, realizing who had said it. "Hey Cassidy! How have you been? I haven't seen you in like a week. Guess I've been a little busy. Do you guys mind if I sit with you?"

They all looked at him like he was crazy. Parker was sure that they had been avoiding him since the accident on final exam day. Everyone seemed to be avoiding him a bit still.

"Seriously? Of course you can sit with us!" Parker noticed that most of the other students he'd become friends with were all extremely out going and cheery. Alexis, Hailee, Cassidy, Evelyn, Claire and even Gwen on occasion. The guys were even welcoming and always happy to talk and help out.

Hailee took her seat but Parker stood for a moment longer, staring at the head table. Master Sora and Master Keegan were arguing again. Not as bad as they were last year, but still in front of everyone. He leaned to whisper in Hailee's ear, "What do you think they're arguing about?" She shrugged her shoulders and turned to talk to the others at the table.

Parker couldn't stand not knowing what they were arguing about so much lately. He made his way to the head table to find out just that.

When he got there, they stopped, mid-argument and looked at him. "Can I help you with something?" they said in unison.

"Um… yeah. What are you arguing about? It's like you've been at each other's throats lately."

Master Keegan turned to Master Sora and said, "He's not ready yet Thelonius. Don't even bring it up. He'll just do something dumb."

Master Sora closed his eyes to compose himself before responding. "Auberon, he has a right to know. This is happening to him and Alexis. They both have a right to know."

"A right to know what? Is there something wrong with us?"

"See, I told you! He's worried now and this boy does not make smart decisions when he's worried about something."

Parker wasn't particularly keen on being called boy, but there was nothing he could do about it now. "Parker, if we tell you about this, you must promise to not overreact or do anything rash."

Master Keegan looked at Master Sora baffled that he thought that whatever Parker said would be the truth. Parker nodded his head.

"Head to the Medical Ward to see Alexis and we will be right behind you."